Tales of the Miasma
by Archdemon Slayer
Summary: The portal to Hexen Isle sends Sorey and the others to Terca Lumires, where a miasma outbreak is happening.
1. Accident

**I got stuck on the other Tales of Zestiria story, so here's a new one.**

 **\- There will be many Tales of Shadows things in here, but the storyline of Tales of Vesperia is unchanged.**

 **\- There will be a few God Eater elements in here, such as the aragami.**

 **\- There is a brief mention of Tales of the Abyss.**

 **\- This is a year after the end of Tales of Vesperia.**

 **\- This is after the end of Tales of Zestiria, but at the end of the game where you can access Hexen Isle, so Sorey is still with the group.**

* * *

As Sorey and the rest of the group climbed the large stairs for their final battle against Heldalf, a portal stood at the final door.

"Doesn't that lead to Hexen Isle?" Edna asked without any emotion. Lailah nodded.

"Indeed. It should lead to the Hexen Isle ruins, but..."

"Uh-oh..." Zaveid whispered. Sorey started needling the poor fire seraph.

"What kind of ruins?!" Everyone else sweatdropped.

"...What a nerd..." Rose mumbled.

"Since this is in kittybeard's place, it might be a trap," Edna told the Shepherd.

"Think it might take us straight to Heldalf?" Sorey asked, crossing his arms, Mikleo went up to him.

"If it does, we'll be killing two birds with one stone, since we get to see some ruins as well!"

"...There's the second ruin nerd..." Rose sighed.

"...Idiots..." Edna growled, hiding her face with her unfolded umbrella.

"The ruins are waiting!" Sorey cheered, running into the portal, followed by Mikleo. Lailah gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"They can't! It's too dangerous!" With that, she ran into the portal.

"I. Hate. Everything!" Edna ground out, folding up her umbrella and slamming the tip down. Rose scratched her head.

"If I'm too far from Sorey, I can't do a thing about the hellions." As she said that, she went into the portal.

"Do we help them?" Zaveid asked.

"Sorey's getting too far away to defend us from malevolence," Edna replied. "You can stay here if turning into a dragon sounds better." Leaving Zaveid, the earth seraph entered the portal. The wind seraph sighed and went after the little girl.

* * *

On Auldrant, after the incident on the Tower of Rem, the group was relaxing on the flight to Belkend.

"I'm so glad the miasma's gone," Tear sighed with relief.

"So, the miasma's been destroyed?" Anise asked.

"That, or it's been teleported away somewhere," Jade replied. "The hyperresonance could have done any number of other things to it."

"But it's gone, right?" Guy asked.

"That's right," Jade answered. "Whatever's been done to the miasma, it's not our problem anymore."

* * *

"You and your ruins..." Rose seethed. After they had gone through the portal, the group ended up in a strange place, surrounded by overgrown trees.

"This totally isn't Hexen Isle," Edna growled, clutching the handle of her umbrella at her side so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "I want to kill you _so badly_ now, Sorey."

Sorey had an awkward smile on his face and scratched his head, "Oops."

"'Oops' doesn't solve what happened!" Rose shouted at the brunette.

"Soooo, where the hell _are_ we?" Zaveid asked, looking around.

"I haven't the slightest idea, but I can sense no malevolence here," Lailah replied.

"Maybe we were teleported off the Glenwood continent?" Mikleo suggested.

"Even so, we should still feel some malevolence," Sorey replied, crossing his arms, thinking. "It's a global issue, after all."

"I don't care about that! I just wanna get _back_!" Rose whined.

"We aren't near a portal, so I'm afraid that's not possible yet," Lailah replied.

"Ugh! Give me a break!" Rose moaned.

"I agree with Rose; This is a pain and it's _your_ fault!" Edna snarled at Sorey. Mikleo stormed at her.

"Hey, lay off! It's not all Sorey's fault!"

"Shut it, Meebo!" Edna snapped at the seraph. "You're partially at fault for not stopping Sorey!"

"Look, fighting isn't getting us anywhere!" Zaveid yelled. "Let's just find a way outta this forest."

Easier said than done. As the group tried to find their way out, they compared the forest to a maze. At last, the group made it to a clearing. Little did they know, it was the center of the forest.

"Weren't we just here?" Zaveid asked after taking a good look around.

"We've been going in _circles_?!" Rose screamed. Sorey sheepishly scratched his head.

"Heh, heh...sorry." Edna held her umbrella like a sword and pointed the end at Sorey.

"Get us outta here _soon_ before I tear you apart!" Some nearby bushes rustled. Sorey took out his sword and glanced at Lailah.

"I don't think it's a hellion; I feel no malevolence."

Lailah held up some slips of paper. "Even so, it can still be a threat," she said. Leaping from the bushes were several creatures. Their body was parallel to the ground like a four-legged creature, except they only had two legs. Brown fur covered them, except for their tails and heads, which looked like bone. Their tails were flat except for a single, curved claw at the end. On their head were two, yellow, slitted eyes and a large mouth with rows of sharp teeth. As they breathed out, a thin black fog came from their mouths.

"Aw man, I thought we were done dealing with that miasma crap!" Zaveid exclaimed.

"Miasma?" Mikleo asked.

"We'll explain it later, Meebo," Edna replied. "The miasma coming from them isn't thick enough to harm us."

As two leaped at Edna, the earth seraph trapped them with rocks, like she did with Eizen. Zaveid used blades of wind to wound them.

As one tried to attack Lailah, Sorey knocked it away with his sword. Even though he wasn't able to cut it, he stunned it long enough for Mikleo to trap it with water and Rose to finish it off by bringing her two blades down on its head

One swung its tail to break itself out of Edna's rock trap and charged at her with its mouth open. Edna froze it with Final Embrace and Zaveid finished it with Horizon Storm.

"Luzrov Rulay!" Unseen by Zaveid, the other creature broke out and leaped at the wind seraph, jaws open. Sorey, armatized with Mikleo, shot an arrow to knock it away.

While they were busy dealing with that one, the rest of the creatures surrounded Rose.

"Fethmus Mioma!" Rose shouted. Once she was armatized with Lailah, she spun in a circle to knock back and burn the creatures with the giant sword. Sorey, Edna, and Zaveid came over, having killed the one they were dealing with. Rose separated from Lailah and called out Edna's true name, combining with her. Zaveid created a tornado and Lailah added fire to it, lifting the rest up. Sorey shot them all with the arrows to knock them back down. Lastly, Rose punched the ground and giant slabs of earth came up and the monsters landed on them, breaking their backs.

Just as the group started to relax, three more of those monsters showed up.

"Give me a _break_!" Zaveid sighed. He was mad, but was casting a spell anyway, joined by Lailah. As Rose and Sorey charged to attack the monsters, a man with long, silver hair jumped out of the bushes. The two monsters turned and snarled, but were cut down by the man's red-purple sword. Zaveid and Lailah quickly stopped their casting before they caused an accident. Rose and Sorey were going too fast to stop and ended up falling on their sides on the ground, earning them protests from the seraphim they were merged with.

" _I'm_ going to hurt in the morning, Sorey!" Mikleo's voice shouted.

"Son of a bitch...!" Rose growled, rubbing her head. "We could've _hit_ you, ya know?!"

"I simply came to help out," the man replied.

"We didn't _need_ help!" Rose snapped. Zaveid walked over to the man.

"Thanks a lot for showing up," he said sarcastically.

"Since he's a normal earth-dweller, he can't see you _or_ hear your snide comment," Edna's voice sounded from Rose. The two got up as one, Rose brushing her and Edna off.

"Don't worry; I heard his insult clearly." the man said. "Monsters like those are new to Terca Lumires."

"Hold up a sec," Sorey said, getting up. "Did you say...Terca Lumires?" Unseen by either Sorey or Mikleo, a rock-like fist collided with their faces and sent them flying into a tree, Mikleo separating from Sorey.

"Damn, that hurt!" Mikleo spat, rubbing his face. Sorey glared up at Rose, who had one fist extended.

"What's the deal, Rose?!"

"It's not me!" Rose told him. Edna separated from her in a green flash.

"It was me," Edna said simply.

"Why?!" Sorey demanded.

"For getting us stuck in another world," Edna replied.

"You got me too!" Mikleo snapped. Edna smirked.

"Sucks to be you, Meebo." Mikleo glared at her. Lailah went over to the man.

"Thanks for helping, umm..."

"Duke."

"Can you explain what's going on, Duke?" Zaveid asked. the others joined the fire and wind seraphim.

"A strange substance appeared and new monsters were created from it," Duke replied.

"Miasma was coming from the monsters we fought," Lailah murmured. "That must be the strange substance."

"Um, what the hell's miasma?" Rose asked.

"It's toxic to us seraphim, but not to humans," Edna answered. "Only by staying in you can we be safe from it. However, armatizing harms both the human and seraph using it."

"We'll need some kind of protection to be safe from it as well," Zaveid said. Duke turned away.

"I can show you out of Keiv Moc. However, you will be on your own afterwards."

"Why can't you come with us?" Lailah asked.

"You have your own goals to attend to," Duke replied simply.

"What a ray of sunshine," Zaveid grumbled.

* * *

 **I'm trying to do fewer characters in this story.**


	2. Caer Bocram

**On Friday, January 29, when the bus showed up at our garage to take me to school, our family dog, a boxer, jumped onto one of the neighbor's dogs, a mastif, like twice the size of our dog, and pushed him into the ditch. Hilarious.**

 **\- We don't like both neighbor dogs.**

 **\- The second, Samantha, didn't do anything to help the other, Solomon. She just watched the whole thing.**

 **\- Solomon was barking at the bus and our dog, Newman, taught him a lesson.**

 **\- We were very proud of Newman.**

 **\- We were cracking up.**

 **\- At first, we thought Solomon was stuck in the ditch. But as soon as Newman went in the house, Solomon crawled out and slunk back to his house. He didn't bark at the bus anymore.**

 **\- I wish we got the whole thing on video, and my mom, too. I would have posted it on Youtube and pasted a link to it on my profile page.**

* * *

Going to a place called "Dahngrest," the group found an inn to stay at. Even though it looked different, their gald was accepted. People could see the seraphim and mistook them for "spirits." Everyone, except Sorey and Lailah, were in a room.

"I wanna go home," Edna moaned, flopping into the bed dramatically.

"Stop bitching," Mikleo called out from across the room, reading a book.

"You're such a dick. Dickleo," Edna said back. Mikleo's head shot from his book and he was blushing madly. Rose and Zaveid burst out laughing.

Just then, Sorey and Lailah came into the room. Seeing half of its occupants cracking up, they gave the scene a weird look.

"What happened?" Sorey asked slowly.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Edna replied. After laughing so hard they couldn't breathe, Rose and Zaveid took giant gulps of air, wiping their tears away, still chuckling.

"Ooookay..." Sorey said. Mikleo ducked his head into his book.

"Find out anything?" Rose asked Lailah after getting the laughing out of her system.

"We asked around and found out something that got Sorey's attention," Lailah replied. The assassin facepalmed.

"Don't tell me it's a set of ruins," Zaveid groaned.

"Not quite," Sorey said. The Shepherd looked excited. "To the southeast of here is a ruined city called Caer Bocram!"

"What's so great about a badly-designed city?" Rose asked, completely uncaring.

"According to what people are saying, it's designs are from a different civilization!" Sorey exclaimed. Rose, Edna, and Zaveid sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know ya wanna go," Rose huffed.

* * *

Going out of the inn, the group saw a squabble between four people. The one currently yelling was a girl with short, brown hair and green eyes. She wore red clothing and mismatched socks.

"I don't give a damn that the city is often attacked by monsters! It shouldn't be the fault of the Aspion mages!"

The next to speak was a man with long, purple- -almost black- -hair and onyx eyes. He wore black clothing and held a katana in his left hand.

"Chill out, Rita. We just wanted to know if Aspio came up with something like barriers to keep monsters away."

"For the millionth time, NO!" Rita shouted, drawing the attention of others.

"People are staring. Might wanna keep your voice down." It was a woman with purple hair tied into a bun and violet-red eyes. She wore rather revealing clothing and had two, blue things hanging down from the back of her head.

"Like I care," Rita snapped back. The fourth spoke up next. It was a small boy with brown hair and eyes. Hanging from his shoulder was a large bag with the handles of different weapons and tools sticking out.

"Judith has a point, Rita. You're making a scene." Rita smacked the boy over the head. "You suck!"

"Just try to find something soon," the man told the girl.

"We have our hands full replacing the other blastia," Rita told him. She seemed to calm down. "It'll be awhile until we get to barrier blastia, Yuri."

"Blastia?" Rose murmured.

"They might be something essential," Mikleo replied.

"Whatever. Come on, Judy," Yuri said. "Let's go to a doctor and make sure Captain Karol didn't get a concussion."

As the other three left, Rita let out a "Hmph!" and went over the bridge, out of town.

"Okay, then," Rose said awkwardly, scratching her head.

"Wonder what _that_ was all about," Zaveid grumbled.

"So off to Caer Bocram?" Sorey asked.

"Let's get this over with," Edna mumbled. As the group started heading out of town, a large fog started rolling in.

"Ain't that the miasma stuff?" Rose asked.

"Yes, but..." Lailah trailed off.

"Uh-oh," Edna said without any emotion.

"What is it?!" Mikleo demanded from the earth seraph.

"It's really thick," Zaveid murmured, tugging at Dezel's hat. The miasma was pitch-black, with tiny shades of dark violet.

"We seraphim would be dead in seconds," Edna stated bluntly, turning into a small, green ball of light and went in Sorey. Just as the miasma touched the Shepherd, the other seraphim did the same. Many people on the streets freaked out as miasma covered the plaza and ran into the nearest building.

Just as the miasma, only a foot high, filled the plaza entirely, two large, tiger-like monsters leapt into the city. Their tails ended in a rock-like hook and the tops of their heads were covered by plating made of some kind of material, and had large fangs. Around their neck were long, yellow-white strips. (Vaijra. Tried to get a pic on here, but it wouldn't let me save it.)

"What in the world?!" Zaveid's voice shouted from in Sorey.

"What a pain," Edna grumbled. As the creatures exhaled, large clouds of miasma came from their mouths.

"They must be created from the miasma!" Lailah's voice exclaimed. Sorey pulled out his sword and charged at on tiger about to attack a group of civilians. It saw the Shepherd and roared, strips extending from its neck, an electric shockwave coming from it.

As Sorey flew back, Rose ran at it with both daggers, but the other creature swatted her away with one paw. The civilians the first was in front of tried to get away, but the monster slashed at all of them, killing them.

"Stop!" Sorey shouted and charged at the monster. It swung it's tail, hitting the Shepherd in the gut and causing a little blood to fly from his mouth. "Feth- -" Sorey started, but was cut off by Lailah.

"Armatizing will endanger you as well!"

"If we don't do something, everyone will die!" Sorey snapped. The second faced Sorey and Rose, crouching down, strips up. Several electric balls appeared in front of it. Just as it fired them, Duke landed in front of the two humans and used his sword to block the one about to ram into the two. It exploded, creating a smokescreen. Duke turned, grabbing the wrists of Sorey and Rose, and dragged them out of the city.

* * *

"It seems we're far enough away," Duke said, letting go of Sorey and Rose.

As more screams echoed through the woods, Sorey faced the direction of the city. "I have to go back!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Rose demanded. "We were having our asses beaten!"

An image of the victims passed through Sorey's head. "I know, but- -"

Edna came out of Sorey, jabbing him with her umbrella. "If you went back there, you'd die, too." Lailah came out of Sorey, looking at Duke.

"You're hurt!"

Duke's right hand was cut from the attack, a little blood coming from the scratch. "It's nothing."

"Don't say that!" Lailah chided. She grabbed Duke's hand and held it up. A green light came from her hand and the cut on Duke's vanished.

"You are not a Child of the Full Moon, yet you are able to cast healing artes without a blastia," Duke observed.

"Blas- - who now?" Sorey asked.

"Devices people use to use artes," Duke replied.

"What will happen to the others?" Mikleo asked. He and Zaveid came out of Sorey.

"I'm not sure," Duke admitted. "However, Yuri and the rest of Brave Vesperia are there. They'll handle those monsters."

"You sound pretty sure," Zaveid said.

"They were able to defeat me a year ago," Duke said.

"Hold on! What happened?!" Sorey demanded.

"A mass of aer had appeared in the sky, the Adephagos. To destroy it, I was prepared to sacrifice every human life. But Yuri and the others stopped me."

"How do we know we can even trust you?" Rose asked skeptically.

"I am not asking you to," Duke replied.

"What now?" Edna asked, bored.

"We should check out those ruins," Mikleo said. "Caer something."

"Caer Bocram, you mean?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, that place!"

"It is dangerous now that some new strong monster have taken up residence there," Duke warned.

"Any of that new stuff, miasma?" Lailah asked.

"None. Just the monster," Duke replied. "People are calling it 'Dyaus Pita'."

"So we need to be careful?" Rose summarized.

* * *

After introducing themselves to Duke, the others, except Sorey, were chatting with the man.

"So are you a ruin hick like Sorey and Hickleo?" Edna asked, earning her a glare from the water seraph.

"I study them, but I don't have an obsession with ruins," Duke replied.

"Good, 'cause Sorey's 'curiosity' is what got us stuck here!" Edna put her umbrella over her head when it started raining again that day. "Hot _and_ wet out here!"

"Since Tolbyccia is tropical, it rains often," Duke told her.

"I hate it here," Edna griped.

"Are we almost there?" Sorey asked. "I'm getting mud in my boots."

"Just about," Duke said.

"Good, then I can light a fire to keep us warm," Lailah said.

"With the way the rain's coming down, you're fire won't last more than a few seconds," Zaveid said. At last, the ruined city of Caer Bocram came into view. The group rushed into the nearest house.

"Rain everywhere!" Edna grumbled, wringing out her dress and dumping the water out of her boots. Lailah found a fireplace and lit a fire. In an instant, Rose, Edna, and Zaveid huddled around it.

"That feels so much better!" Zaveid exclaimed. Water was dripping from the green tips of his hair and Dezel's hat. Rose ripped off her soaking-wet jacket and threw it on the floor next to her. She shook out her red hair, much to everyone's annoyance.

"Watch it!" Mikleo hissed. He had just got done winging out his tunic and hair.

"Quiet, Meebo!" Edna snapped. "No one cares what you think!"

"I thought you'd like it, being a water seraph and all," Rose pointed out.

"Normally, but that rain was _freezing_!" Edna rolled her eyes and continued warming herself. Sorey let out a sheepish chuckle and hung his Shepherd's cloak to dry. Duke wrung out his silver hair and his uniform. Being near Lailah helped his clothes to dry faster.

"How much longer will it rain?" Sorey asked, hearing wind knock against the door.

"I'm not sure," Duke replied. "The rain here is unpredictable, so it could rain all day."

"Could we wait until it stops raining to explore Caer Bocram?" Lailah asked Sorey. "Being wet will greatly decrease the power of my fire seraphic artes."

"That's fine. We can wait here," Sorey replied. Edna let out a loud, relieved sigh.

"Good, because it's warm in here, and cold out _there_!" There was a loud crash and the house the group was in shook.

"What was that?!" Rose demanded, grabbing her jacket to dry it.

"...It seems there's something out there," Lailah said, staring out the window. All she could see was a black object. Rose quickly put her jacket back on.

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm running like hell if it's something dangerous!" The black thing outside seemed to turn, a pair of red eyes locked onto the house.

"That must be Dyaus Pita! Hide!" Duke shouted.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger. I swear, coming up for what Edna says can be so fun! I just love how sarcastic and aggressive she can be, especially to Mikleo.**


	3. Dyaus Pita

As soon as they all heard Duke's warning, Lailah put out the fire and retreated in Sorey, the other seraphim doing the same. Rose ducked under one window. Sorey quickly grabbed his Shepherd's cloak, quickly put the wet cloth on, and hid himself from sight with Duke. Both were on the other side of the house, pressed up against the same wall as the window.

Sorey held his breath as a pair of red eyes gazed through the window Rose was hiding under. The monster growled softly and for one terrifying second, Sorey feared it spotted him as the eyes scanned the room.

The eyes lingered on the fireplace for a moment before it huffed and the face pulled away. Once it was gone, Sorey, Rose, and Duke came out of hiding, the four seraphim coming out of Sorey.

"Talk about close!" Zaveid breathed. Rose had one hand over her chest and she was panting hard.

"My heart was beating so fast I thought the monster could hear it!"

"I was scared out of my mind!" Sorey exclaimed, sweating heavily.

"At least we don't have to worry about that anymore," Mikleo said.

Edna felt small tremors in the earth, so slight, the others couldn't feel it. "Hm?" She unfolded her umbrella and held it over her head. Just as the roof came crashing down.

"What in the world?!" Rose shouted, coughing on the cloud of dust produced by the wreckage. At once, rain landed in her hair.

A chunk of the roof fell towards Mikleo, but he summoned his staff and smashed the chunk. Dyaus Pita towered over the group. It looked like one of those tiger-like monsters, except it was black. It had a long, gray beard hanging from its mouth, and instead of the red strips, there were long, sharp things around its neck. Bits of webbing connected them, making them look like wings. The monster was at least two times the size of the tiger ones.

"I'm getting wet again!" Edna griped.

"I think we have bigger things to worry about!" Rose snapped at the small earth seraph. Edna huffed and started casting a spell.

"Grave!"

Pita roared and leapt out of the way of the earth spell. Lailah threw some slips of paper at the monster. Fire enveloped the paper briefly, but hissed and went out, the useless scraps of paper falling down from the weight of the rain it soaked up. Pita grinned and leapt at the fire seraph, mouth wide open. Just as it started to land, Sorey grabbed her and pulled her away. Rose and Duke used Glimmer Dragon and Moonbeam respectively, driving the tiger back.

"Hell Gate!" Zaveid shouted. Pita jumped up to avoid the spell.

"Crystal Rod!" The monster held one wing-like thing in front of its face and blocked Mikleo's Mystic Arte.

"Nothing we do is working!" Rose exclaimed. "Hephsin Yulind!"

Sorey, seeing Rose armatize with Edna, decided to armatize with Zaveid. "Wirukun Zavie!"

As he was preparing a spell, Rose used one rock-like fist to try punching Pita. It jumped up, avoiding the fist. Duke jumped up to meet the monster in midair, slashing down with Dein Nomos at its head. Pita protected itself with one wing, getting the sword caught between its claws as it closed them. When both landed, Pita slashed at the swordsman with the other wing.

"Twin Flow!" The jet of water from Mikleo was aimed at the wing holding Dein Nomos, knocking the sword free. Duke backed up in time to dodge the other wing. Lailah stood in the back, feeling useless since the rain came down hard enough to put out her flames.

"Cloudburst!" Sorey shouted, finishing his wind spell. As Pita used both wings to defend himself, Rose dashed in, casting a spell.

"Gigaton Smash!" However, Pita was too large for the spell to work. As she tried casting Earthshaker, Cloudburst ended and the tiger used one wing to try cutting the Squire and Edna. However, Sorey grabbed her and tried pulling her away, stopping the spell. Sorey got his lower back cut instead, the severe injury ripping him from Zaveid, who had a similar wound.

Mikleo and Duke worked together to distract Pita while Rose dragged the two over to Lailah, the fire seraph working to heal their wounds while Rose and Edna used Fairy Circle on them.

While Sorey and Zaveid were being healed, Mikleo and Duke were having a heck of a time holding off Pita. The monster caused black lightning to strike down around it. Duke had enough instinct to leap back from the attack, However, Mikleo was too slow to react and got knocked away, shaking as small black electricity went over his body. Pita brought one wing claw on the water seraph, trying to finish him off, but Duke got in its way, holding up Dein Nomos against the bottom of the claw.

Pita growled and pushed down on the sword with the claw, Duke gritting his teeth against the pressure, managing to keep the massive claw form cutting his head. A howl came from Pita as it forced all of it's strength down on the sword, causing sparks to fly as the claw ground against metal. Despite Duke's struggles, Dein Nomos was being forced down.

Just as the claw was about to cut Duke, a blade of wind knocked it away. Duke, relieved of the pressure, turned around and saw Zaveid sitting up, one hand extended. Pita roared and leapt over Mikleo and Duke, trying to land on the healers and the injured.

"Not on your life!" Rose and Edna shouted. "Earthpulse!" The two stopped healing and punched the ground. Because of the rain making the ground softer, the earth martial arte went into effect sooner. Pillars of rock rose from the ground and hit Pita's belly, holding him in midair. Edna separated from Rose and started casting an ice spell.

"Freeze Lancer!" Edna yelled. The spears of ice didn't even scratch Pita. Instead, the force of the spell knocked the monster off the pillars and caused it to land hard on the ground, stunning him.

"Now's our chance to get the hell outta here!" Rose shouted. Edna was fretting over mud in her boots, so Rose grabbed her hand and dragged her into the trees outside of Caer Bocram.

Duke noticed Pita was starting to come back to its senses, so he grabbed an unconscious Mikleo and carried the seraph on his back out of the ruins of the town.

Pita groaned and tried getting to his feet. So in that time, Lailah and a conscious Zaveid, both who were close to the Shepherd's height, carried the brunette to join the others.

Pita regained his senses and looked around. The ones he was fighting were gone, save for some blood on the ground. Frustrated, he roared and used his tail to smash the pillars. Grumbling, he went to the underground of Caer Bocram where he was before where it was warm and free of the rain.

* * *

"That was a close one!" Lailah breathed. Duke looked around. They had ran away from Caer Bocram and were just outside of Heliord. Mikleo had woke up a short time ago and was working on healing the rest of Sorey and Zaveid's injuries.

Rose's stomach growled and she blushed, Edna rolling her eyes.

"Stupid humans, always need to be taken care of."

Rose clenched her hands into fists and glared at the little girl. "It wasn't like being a human instead of a stupid ghost who doesn't even need to eat was my choice!" the merchant snapped. She was also secretly jealous of Edna's umbrella. She was probably the driest of the group. The others had to depend on the trees to keep the rain off them. They didn't help much.

Duke sighed, tired of hearing the two bicker. "We're near a city called Heliord. We can find and inn to sleep and eat at."

As the group entered the town, they were almost trampled by this world's knights racing all over.

"What's going on?" Mikleo asked.

"I am not sure," Duke admitted. "You guys check into the inn. I will have a talk with the head of the Knights in Heliord."

"I just wanna go in where it's dry," Edna grumbled.

* * *

Going in the back room of Heliord's HQ, Duke was surprised to find Flynn, Ioder, and Estelle there.

"What is going on?" Duke demanded, making the three look up from the desk, where a pile of reports were.

"Duke!" Estelle exclaimed. However, Flynn was still wary of the man after what happened last year.

"What brings you to Heliord?" Ioder asked. Duke explained to him about the six from Glenwood, the miasma, the incident in Dahngrest, and about Dyaus Pita in Caer Bocram.

"Sounds like what's happening in Ilyccia," Flynn murmured to himself, putting one hand to his chin.

"What happened in Ilyccia?!" Duke demanded. Ioder explained it to him. Just recently, a strange fog (the miasma) rolled into Zaphias. Soon after, hoardes of strange monsters invaded the capital, too many for the Knights to handle. They evacuated everyone to Halure, but soon it was overran by monsters. Since Tolbyccia had fewer new monsters, the Knights and the Council got the citizens of Zaphias and Halure onto a series of ships to Capua Torim. Flynn left some Knights and Sodia in charge of protecting the port town while he, the princess, and the emperor talked to Harry in Dahngrest about the Knights and the Union joining together to fight the new monsters, and hopefully, find a way to and the new substance producing the monsters. They had just taken a break in Heliord because it was getting late.

"Most of Ilyccia is unlivable without people being killed and eaten," Flynn added.

"What about asking the spirits for a solution?" Duke suggested. Flynn shook his head.

"Getting to Sylph and Efreet will be too challenging. And since Undine is on the Ilyccian continent, it'll mean facing those monsters again. And because of Gusios' close call with becoming an Adephagos, Gnome can't be understood by anyone except Sylph."

"I see..." Duke murmured. He then turned around. "I must rejoin the group. We'll talk about seeing Undine."

"Haven't you been listening to us?!" Ioder demanded. "It's too dangerous!"

"We'll be fine," Duke told him. "As for Sylph and Efreet, we'll figure something out."

Flynn sighed and slid into the desk's chair. "Fine. Don't expect back-up from the Knights on this, but I'll ask Judith if she and Ba'ul can help you guys reach Sylph and Efreet."

"Thank you," Duke said.

* * *

At the inn, Lailah and Mikleo finished healing Sorey and Zaveid. Now the boys and Rose were gone, leaving Lailah and Edna alone in their room.

"Ugh, I wonder if it will _ever_ stop raining," Edna grumbled, staring outside where rain splattered on the balcony."

"According to Duke, a single rainfall can last for days in Tolbyccia," Lailah replied. "But I'm more concerned about what could be lurking outside."

"You mean Dyaus Pita?" Edna asked.

"We weren't able to finish it off, just daze it long enough for us to run away."

"What about it?"

"What if we run into other monsters just as powerful or even more powerful than Dyaus Pita?" Lailah fretted. "Because of the rain, my artes were useless!"

"Not entirely useless," Edna pointed out. "Your healing artes saved the lives of Sorey and Zaveid long enough for Weebo to help you."

Lailah chuckled a little. "Call Mikleo that to his face, and expect water spells to be thrown at you."

"Nah, he's too scared of me," Edna said, glancing at the door. "And even if he attacks me, I'll just hit him again." Edna grabbed the handle of her umbrella and started jabbing it in the air like a sword.

Lailah giggled lightly and Edna put her umbrella down. She turned to the fire seraph. "You should get some sleep." When Lailah opened her mouth to protest, Edna went on. "Even though seraphim don't need to sleep, they can still feel tired. Using all those healing artes must've tired you out."

Lailah nodded. "You're right, Edna. Good night."

* * *

At the inn's lobby, Rose was at a table, finishing the rest of her meal as Zaveid came over.

"What's up?" Rose asked, swallowing the food in her mouth.

Zaveid tilted Dezel's hat. "Just wanted to see ya."

Rose pushed her empty plate of food over to the side. "Oooooookay..."

Zaveid feigned a hurt look. "Ouch! _That_ was cold! And here I thought Little Miss Edna and Mickey were harsh!"

"Whatever..." Rose mumbled. "Anything else?"

Zaveid leaned his elbows on the table, shifting his weight on them. "Dyaus Pita."

"Oh, that thing? What about it?"

"I get the feeling it was toying with us. And we _still_ got our asses beat."

"What are you getting at?" Rose asked the wind seraph.

Zaveid sighed. "Just like Sheps, you don't seem to have a care in the world."

"Don't compare me to _him_!" Rose snarled. "Just what the hell are you saying?!"

"Just how bad it was when Dyaus Pita was taking it easy. Imagine if he was serious!"

"Yeah, and?"

Zaveid groaned. "I have no idea how Dezel put up with you as long as he did..."

" _He_ didn't beat around the bush!" Rose snapped.

"I'm not beating around any damn bush!" Zaveid insisted. "I'm just saying if Dyaus Pita had gone all-out, Sorey and I would probably be _dead_! Plus, maybe some of the others!"

"What's your point?"

"Imagine all the other miasma creatures we may face that are like Dyaus Pita!"

"Nothing we can do about that," Rose said, shrugging.

Zaveid slammed his palms down on the table and leaned his face into Rose's. "I'm saying we need to get stronger! That way, we won't have a repeat of Caer Bocram! Plus, we'll stand a better chance against Heldalf!"

"I get it, I get it! Now, get out of my face! Your breath stinks!"

* * *

Sorey and Mikleo were leaning against the wall under the shelter just outside the inn.

"Sorry, Mikleo," Sorey suddenly said, startling the seraph.

"About what?"

"For the trouble I caused you guys."

Mikleo turned his head to the front and crossed his arms. "It's not your fault that Dyaus Pita showed up."

"No, but it was my idea for us to check out Caer Bocram."

"I was partially at fault, too!" Mikleo pointed out.

"But I put everyone's lives in danger!" Sorey insisted.

Mikleo was at his limit. He uncrossed his arms and punched the wall he was leaning on. "Dammit, Sorey! Stop blaming yourself! It was going to happen to us eventually! At least we have an idea of what were up against!"

Sorey was too shocked to speak and Mikleo scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry for that. I know I usually don't get worked up like that unless Edna says something snarky."

"It's okay, Mikleo," Sorey admitted. "You're right. It was bound to happen to us sooner or later. I think what scared me the most was that any one of you could've died, and I would blame myself."

"Well, none of us died, so it's a moot point," Mikleo said. He headed for the door. "It's getting late. We should rest up for tomorrow."

* * *

 **At least I seem to be getting better at typing the battle scenes.**

 **With Rose, it seems easy to do her since we have similar personalities.**


	4. Capua Torim

**Sorry for the wait. We had used up nearly all of our internet for the month, so we couldn't use the internet until the data plan rolled over, unless it was school-related.**

 **Since even with this brain injury, my hands are coordinated enough for me to crochet again. And since I got into National Honor's Society, I'll be crocheting hats for newborns at the local hospital. So the updates will become very all over with how frequently I get each chapter up.**

* * *

A few days later, at Capua Torim, the group had arrived late the other day and stayed at the inn. After breakfast, Rose stood from her seat at the table, hands planted on her hips.

"I'm taking Lailah and Edna on a shopping trip around the town!" Rose declared.

"No thanks," Edna grumbled. Rose grabbed her arm and dragged the seraph out of her seat.

"Not an option! You need to learn to be like a girl!"

"Are you saying I'm not?" Edna growled.

"I'm just saying you could stand to be more like one."

"Ugh, I'd rather die..."

"What about me?" Lailah asked, standing up.

"Sure, sure, you're fine. Now help me drag Edna."

As the two girls dragged a screaming and kicking Edna toward the inn's door, Mikleo let out a long sigh.

"We may have a lot of money, but don't go wasting it all."

"Whatevs," Rose said and pushed the door open with one shoulder, using both hands to get a grip on Edna. All the little girl managed to scream was, "Couple of bit-" before the door closed.

* * *

By the time the girls reached the shop, Edna had gotten all the local's attention by cursing up a storm.

"My god..." Rose sighed. She turned and started browsing what was for sale. Edna huffed and crossed her arms.

"Doesn't this dress look nice?" Lailah asked. Rose turned to see what Lailah was talking about. The fire seraph was staring at a long, white dress in the window of the next store, except...

"Um, Lailah, that's a wedding dress."

Lailah blushed and covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Oops..."

Edna sighed. She swore, most of the time Lailah's head was full of cotton. She went back to looking at the available umbrellas.

Rose let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not finding anything!" She faced the shopkeeper and took out two Mythril Daggers. "Can you just fuse these for me?"

The person gave her a funny look. "What?"

"Don't you know what item fusion is?" Rose asked.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of that."

Lailah came over. "There isn't item fusion in this world?!" she gasped. Edna came over and started dragging Lailah away.

"You can't expect every world to have your weird obsession."

Rose sighed and led the girls to the next vendor. So far, this shopping trip was turning out to be a major buzzkill.

* * *

By now, Judith had gotten the message. She was on the Fiertia, which was being flown by Ba'ul. Going over Caer Bocram, Judith peered over the edge and saw the tiger called Dyaus Pita leaving the ruined town and was entering the forest. The monsters had been classified, any new ones being called aragami. Recently, by concentrating, Entelexeia could seek out the fell arms. As Dein Nomos was close to being one, Ba'ul would be able to find the group by sensing the sword.

Ba'ul howled and Judith looked up at the dragon. "I was wondering what that variant Vaijra was doing, myself." The tiger-like aragami were called Vaijra, though similar but slightly different ones were variant. And it wasn't just Vaijra. There were other variants such as Susano'o, Hannibal, Amaterasu, Marduk, and others. "We should hurry."

* * *

There was a blockade for any ships sailing to Ilyccia because of the miasma issue there. Three days passed, and there was still no sign of the blockade being lifted.

Outside of town, Sorey was honing his sword skills by sparing with Duke. Mikleo was sitting under a nearby tree, reading a book. Rose had taken the girls shopping again, and Zaveid was chasing skirts.

Mikleo peered over his book just in time to see Sorey get knocked down again by Duke.

"Maybe we should call it a day," he said, closing the book and standing up.

Sorey got to his feet and shook his head. "I can't take a break. I need to be stronger to stand up to Heldalf!"

"Good grief..." the seraph sighed. Duke's head perked up.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Sorey asked.

"Sort of a bad feeling," Duke replied.

Sorey scratched his head. "I didn't feel anything like that."

"Maybe it was just my imagination..." Duke muttered. A twig snapped and Mikleo snapped around, summoning his staff. Duke did the same, readying Dein Nomos. Only Sorey looked lost.

"What is it?" At the same time, Dyaus Pita leapt into the clearing with the other three. It brought one paw down on Sorey. However, the Shepherd dodged just in time, pulling out his sword. Pita roared and the wing-like things lifted up, a giant ball of black lightning forming in front of them. As it fired the ball of lightning, Duke moved in front of Sorey and Mikleo, holding up Dein Nomos like a shield, holding back the attack. The ball exploded, sending streams of black electricity rinning the Dein Nomos and Duke's arms.

"Aqua Serpent!" Mikleo shouted. Pita glanced over at the jet of water that looked like a snake heading at him. Pita held one wing in front of him to block the spell. At the same time, Sorey ran at the tiger, slashing down with his sword. It hit, but it didn't seem to do much damage. Pita swat at the Shepherd with the other wing. Duke teleported above the monster, preparing to use Moonbeam. However, the electricity running through him forced the man to halt in using the arte. The aragami looked up, seeing Duke, and slashed at him with the same wing used on Sorey. Duke was knocked down. He had a large, horizontal cut across his chest. It was bleeding, but not heavily.

Sorey grit his teeth. "Luzrov Rulay!" Mikleo vanished and was merged with Sorey for the Water Armatus. Sorey pulled the string of the bow back, releasing it and firing several arrows at Pita. The variant Vaijra knocked most of them away by lashing with one paw but the rest hit his face. There were a few scratches on Pita, but he looked more furious than anything. Sorey folded up the bow into a blade and ran at Pita. He knocked the two away by whipping his tail at them.

At the same time, Duke came at the monster from its side. "Light Spear!" Pita jumped back in time to avoid the strike arte and pounced, attempting to crush Duke.

"Luna Fang!"

From a ship in the sky being flown by what looked like a giant whale, a woman came down on Pita with her feet, knocking the aragami down before it landed on Duke. Afterwards, the woman came down from the tiger and helped Duke to his feet. Sorey recognized her from Dahngrest as Judith.

"Perfect timing," Duke said.

Judith looked down at the wound on the man's body. "Seems you had a rough time." The girls and Zaveid came running over.

"I heard fighting! What's going on?!" Rose demanded. Pita got back to his feet, glaring at the Krityan.

"Aw hell!" Zaveid moaned.

"Ba'ul!" Judith called up. The massive whale howled and fired an energy beam at Pita, knocking the aragami away. The ship was lowered, Judith climbing up on it. "Get on!"

Just as the ship was lifted back into the air, the Vaijra got back to the clearing and fired a ball of lightning at the ship. Ba'ul let loose an energy beam, cancelling out the attack. The ball exploded, creating a smokescreen. Ba'ul used this chance to fly the ship away.

* * *

"What in the world was going on?!" Judith exclaimed. Sorey told her about the miasma and Dyaus Pita. In return, Judith shared what she knew. Aragami were the name given to the new monsters. Pita was a variant Vaijra.

Duke groaned, clutching the wound. Judith glanced at him. "Even though we patched him up, he should see a doctor."

"I am fine. We just got to Ilyccia, so we do not need to head back to Tolbyccia for this," Duke told her. Judith sighed.

"Fine, but I don't want you complaining because infection set in."

"I would _love_ to hear him whine!" Rose whispered to Sorey.

"So what's the story with that thing?" Zaveid asked, pointing at Ba'ul.

"He's an Entelexeia named Ba'ul," Judith replied simply.

"Uh-huh," Zaveid said. "I have a million other questions, but I have a feeling that you'll give me short answers."

"Suit yourself," Judith shrugged. She turned to Duke. "So you're going to see Undine?"

"That is correct," Duke replied.

"I just want to warn you that several aragami have settled in the Blade Drifts, including a powerful variant."

"Which one?" Lailah asked Judith.

"We aren't sure yet, but it's very strong, probably more so than Dyaus Pita."


	5. Author Note

**Screw this. This story is discontinued, and so is the new Tales of Shadows 2 since I lost the inspiration on that as well. The aragami will be Entelexeia in the crossover with Code Geass.**


End file.
